The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is about to make the same mistake again. Two years ago, after many years of challenges from opponents, TCEQ issued a permit that allows Dripping Springs to discharge its treated wastewater into Onion Creek. One of the arguments that the city made for its permit was that it needed to expand its existing treatment plant in order to serve future subdivisions that might otherwise build their own treatment plants.
That’s why it makes no sense at all that TCEQ has issued a draft permit for the proposed Madelynn Estates subdivision just south of Dripping Springs. Not only would the proposed wastewater treatment plant be located only 1,500 feet from Onion Creek, but the subdivision would be located only 2,500 feet from Dripping Springs’ existing wastewater treatment plant.
You can tell TCEQ why it’s getting the Madelynn Estates permit application wrong. The agency is holding a public meeting on this draft permit on Monday, October 6. You can attend the meeting in person to pose questions to representatives of TCEQ and the applicant, Allied Development. If you can’t attend, you can also submit online comments on TCEQ’s website until the end of the meeting. Scroll down to learn how to do both:
TCEQ has already issued two permits that allow the discharge of domestic wastewater in the Onion Creek watershed. The agency approved discharge permits for the Belterra subdivision in 2008, and for the city of Dripping Springs in 2023. But neither has discharged so far, since both also have TLAP permits that allow them to irrigate their wastewater onto land.
By contrast, Allied Development has only applied for a wastewater discharge permit for Madelynn Estates, and it apparently has no intention of incorporating wastewater reuse into its plans for the subdivision. If TCEQ approves this discharge permit, the Madelynn Estates plant would become the first to discharge treated sewage in the Onion Creek watershed. The risk posed to the creek would be magnified by Madelynn Estates’s high density — 113 homes built on 52 acres. Allied is based in Arizona and describes itself as being focused on the land development entitlement process — which means getting permits like the one that it’s currently seeking from TCEQ.
